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4000 Level Courses

Courses may not be available during a specific term.

AP/PHIL4011 3.0A SEMINAR IN THE HISTORY OF MODERN PHILOSOPHY

An intensive examination of the work of one or more philosophers of the modern period. Topics vary from year to year.

PREREQUISITE: At least 9 credits in Philosophy.

PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Course credit exclusion: AS/PHIL 4011 3.00.

AP/PHIL4030 3.0M SEMINAR IN ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY

This seminar course closely examines an important work of one of the great ancient philosophers. Alternatively, it may also focus on an important area or theme of ancient philosophy including, metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and political theory. This year, the course will focus on the notion of poetic inspiration from Homer to Plato.

PREREQUISITE: At least 9 credits in Philosophy.

AP/PHIL4040 3.0A SEMINAR IN CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY

This course will focus on the philosophy of Donald Davidson. Davidson's primary interest was in the understanding of intentional and rational behaviour. But he also thought that this was the best way for philosophers to approach questions about mind, meaning, truth, knowledge and reality. This course will emphasize the systematic character of Davidson's philosophy, examining the connections among his claims in various areas and scrutinizing specific arguments in light of his overall project. Special attention will be paid to the questions what justifies Davidson's initial approach and what kind of "theories" his rampant anti-foundationalism and anti-reductionism leave room for, as well as to the implications of his views for philosophical "dualisms" such as the subjective/objective distinction and the debates between realism and anti-realism and between internalism and externalism, both semantic and epistemic.


PREREQUISITE: At least 9 credits in Philosophy.

AP/PHIL4070 3.0A SEMINAR IN MORAL PHILOSOPHY

An intensive examination of particular problems in moral philosophy, or intensive studies of the writings of individual moral philosophers. Topics vary from year to year.

Prerequisites: At least nine credits in philosophy including at least three credits from the following: AP/PHIL 3020 3.0, AP/PHIL 3050 3.0, AP/PHIL 3110 3.0.

AP/PHIL4070 3.0M SEMINAR IN MORAL PHILOSOPHY

An intensive examination of particular problems in moral philosophy, or intensive studies of the writings of individual moral philosophers. Topics vary from year to year.

Prerequisites: At least nine credits in philosophy including at least three credits from the following: AP/PHIL 3020 3.0, AP/PHIL 3050 3.0, AP/PHIL 3110 3.0.

AP/PHIL4071 3.0F KANT'S MORAL PHILOSOPHY

An intensive study of Kant's central works in moral philosophy.

Prerequisites: At least nine credits in philosophy including at least three credits from the following: AP/PHIL 3020 3.00, AP/PHIL 3050 3.00 or AP/PHIL 3110 3.00.

AP/PHIL4075 3.0A LIFE, DEATH, ABSURDITY & MEANING

This course explores attempts by several major Western philosophers to answer the following questions: What is the meaning of life? What is the meaning of /my/ life? Is there any meaning in (my) life that will not be destroyed by (my) death? What is death, and what does it mean to me? And why is there something rather than nothing? A higherorder set of questions will be addressed along the way: Are questions about the meaning of life answerable? Are they questions that require an interdisciplinary approach? Can the clinical and health sciences, and the cognitive and neurosciences, shed any helpful light on these questions?

Readings by Epictetus, Epicurus, Leibniz, Spinoza, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Camus, Sartre, Ayer, Nagel, Parfit, Nozick and others.

PREREQUISITE: At least 9 credits in Philosophy.

AP/PHIL4080 3.0M SEMINAR IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF MIND

This course discusses the view that the language that one speaks has a strong influence on thought and cognition. We will examine recent work in philosophy, linguistics, and psychology that sheds new light on this issue. What is the difference between "linguistic relativity" and "linguistic determinism"? Is there a difference between the influence of a particular language on the mind and the influence of language in general? Is there a universal human conceptual repertoire that is available to speakers of all human languages? Is there a universal "language of thought" common to all members of the human species? Are all human languages inter-translatable, and does the unavailability of a word for a concept imply the unavailability of that concept? In what cognitive domains is the influence of language on the mind most profound?

PREREQUISITE: At least 9 credits in Philosophy including AS/PHIL3260 3.0.

AP/PHIL4084 3.0A ANIMALS AND PHILOSOPHY OF MIND

This seminar will focus on some key questions in the philosophy of mind as they relate to the scientific study of non-human animal minds. First students will be introduced to foundational concepts and issues in the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of science, and the science of animal cognition. It is in this context that we will also discuss the worry about anthropomorphism. Given those tools at hand, students will then grapple with questions about animal consciousness, theory of mind, whether animals have beliefs or concepts without language, whether some animals are rational, and to what extent animals communicate with one another. We will also examine current research on normativity in apes, and ask if this research helps us understand the evolution of, or nature of, morality. To carry out this investigation, we will be reading the work of philosophers as well as psychologists; while a background in psychology will be helpful, it is not essential.

PREREQUISITE: At least nine credits in philosophy, including AP/PHIL 3260 3.00 or AP/PHIL 3265 3.00.

AP/PHIL4085 3.0A SEMINAR IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF PSYCHIATRY

There is a growing body of contemporary work in philosophy of psychiatry that draws heavily on two philosophical traditions.

Analytic philosophy is applied to better understand psychiatry through an analysis of some of its fundamental concepts. There is much unease about these concepts and the extent to which some of them are equivocal as between moral and medical interpretations. Are mental disorders neurochemical imbalances or are they morally valueladen "social constructions"?

The phenomenological/existential tradition is applied to better understand the lived experience of those diagnosed with mental disorders. Schizophrenic pathology might make greater sense if we see it as a response to a personal type of suffering that is mediated by the network of interpersonal relations with which the schizophrenic must cope. Many philosophers attempt utilize these traditions as

frameworks for collaboration by which the split between humanistic and biological models of psychiatry might be overcome. An emerging idea in the philosophy of psychiatry is that knowledge of neurobiological processes and a method of phenomenological description that stays close to the lived experience of mentally disordered persons can complement each other in research and treatment.

This course will explore current work from both philosophical traditions in an attempt to better understand four areas of interest: 1) the role of moral values in psychiatric diagnosis and treatment; 2) the limits of our ability to understand the meaning of a mentally disordered person's experiences, beliefs and utterances; 3) the conceptual, normative and scientific foundations of psychiatry and 4) ethical and epistemological issues pertaining to psychiatric research and pharmaceutical and psychotherapeutic treatments.


PREREQUISITE: At least nine credits in philosophy.

AP/PHIL4110 3.0A SEMINAR IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

An intensive examination of contemporary philosophical problems concerning the growth of science and technology selected from interpretations of theory, of models, of presumed facts, of presumed progress, of experimental technique, and of the place of values in science and technology.


PREREQUISITE: At least nine credits in philosophy, of which AP/PHIL 3170 3.00, AP/PHIL 3270 3.00, or AP/PHIL 3280 3.00 is recommended.


AP/PHIL4120 3.0A SEMINAR IN Existentialism

An intensive examination of selected works of such thinkers as Pascal, Kierkegaard, and Sartre. Topics include idealism and realism, freedom, the self and others.

PREREQUISITE: At least nine credits in philosophy including one of: AP/PHIL 3120 3.00 or AP/PHIL 3125 3.00.

AP/PHIL4126 3.0M SEMINAR IN 20 TH CENTURY CONTINENTIAL PHILOSOPHY

This seminar will concentrate on MerleauPonty's philosophy. The main text will be his Phenomenology of Perception and, if time permits, possibly selections from his unfinished The Visible and the Invisible and Eye and Mind.

Our primary focus will be his philosophy of the body, which, nonetheless, requires a study of his existentialist metaphysics and epistemology, including his phenomenologies of cognition, colour, touch, space, sociality, language, truth and evidence, movement and praxis, "flesh", and art.

His bodyoriented development of the phenomenological method of Husserl and Heidegger will also be a main topic.

Requirements

Students will be required to do assignments ranging from presentations to reports for approximately every second meeting and a final paper.

PREREQUISITE: At least nine credits in philosophy.

AP/PHIL4150 3.0M PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

An exploration of current issues in one or more of the following domains of professional ethics: international, legal, health, research, business and environmental.

PREREQUISITE: At least 9 credits in philosophy, including either AP/PHIL 2070 3.00 or AP/PHIL 2075 3.00; or 78 total credits and the permission of the course instructor.

AP/PHIL4180 3.0M SEMINAR IN POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY

Justice, equality, human rights are closely related concepts in modern political philosophy, and their importance can be said to be not just philosophical, but eminently practical. This course will focus on a few selected contemporary theories dealing with human rights. We will consider some of the most important legal documents, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, as well a selected set of papers in the relevant literature.

PREREQUISITE: At least nine credits in philosophy including at least three credits from the following: AP/PHIL 3020 3.0, AP/PHIL 3050 3.0 or AP/PHIL 3110 3.0.

AP/PHIL4185 3.0A PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES ON JUSTICE

 

This course will cover advanced issues concerning the requirements of justice in society. The primary focus will be on the institutional structure of society. Major approaches to economic and distributive justice will be examined. These include the literature on egalitarianism, including luck egalitarianism, equality of opportunity, and libertarian objections, as well as the idea of a political conception of justice as articulated by Rawls. These issues will be discussed not only in the context of domestic policy but also in relation to recent debates on global justice.

Course Director: TBA
Day: Thursday
Time: 2:30 - 5:30

PREREQUISITE: At least 9 credits in philosophy.

 

AP/PHIL4220 3.0M SEMINAR IN ARGUMENTATION THEORY

Recent writings in Argumentation Theory have moved to a greater emphasis on context, strategy and rhetorical considerations. In this seminar we shall examine these new approaches and ascertain their similarities and differences. Toward this end, we will carefully examine three different theories as propounded by Tindale, van Eemeren & Grootendorst, and Gilbert. These scholars provide differing models for how argument should be understood and how argumentation analysis should proceed. We will examine these theories and explore the issues they raise.

Requirements

One short essay 30%
Participation (including one or two seminar presentations) 20%
Final essay 50%

PREREQUISITE: At least nine credits in philosophy including AP/PHIL 3220 3.00.

PRIOR TO FALL 2009: course credit exclusion: AS/PHIL 4220 3.00.

AP/PHIL4230 3.0M SEMINAR IN EPISTEMOLOGY

(This is a Winter Course)

In this course we will examine presentday approaches to questions about knowledge in AngloAmerican and European philosophy. The twentiethcentury "linguistic turn", the development of naturalized and social epistemology, and challenges to "the epistemological project" from feminist and postcolonial epistemology have had profound consequences for philosophical thinking about the nature of knowledge, belief, truth, and scepticism, as have analyses of the politics of knowledge, developments in moral epistemology, and discussions of relations between ignorance and knowledge, and of the role of trust in knowledge.

Requirements

Final essay 40%
Eight short (1 ½ page) reading summaries: 40%
Class participation and presentation 20%

PREREQUISITE: At least nine credits in philosophy including three credits from: AP/PHIL 3030 3.00 or AP/PHIL 3035 3.00.

AP/PHIL4350 3.0M SEMINAR IN PHILOSOPHY OF LANGUAGE

An intensive examination of one or more topics in the philosophy of language. These topics will vary from year to year

PREREQUISITE: At least nine credits in philosophy including AP/PHIL 3200 3.00.

 

AP/PHIL4400 3.0M Pragmatism

Pragmatism emerged as a major philosophical movement at the turn of the last century and has
experienced a resurgence at the turn of this one. This course will focus on the work of the most
influential of the Pragmatists, William James. James's distinctive critique of traditional
philosophy flowed from both his naturalistic streak and his emphasis on the relation between
thought and action, and we will be investigating how the combination of these led James to
suggest a number of radical revisions to our concepts of truth, meaning and reality.

Required Texts:
McDermott (ed): The Writings of William James: A Comprehensive Edition

Course Requirements:
Seminar participation:                                      15%
Bi-­-Weekly Assignments:                               20%
Final paper (3000 words):                               65% (Due August 10)
Biweekly Assignments:

AP/PHIL4460 3.0A PHILOSOPHICAL LOGICAL

This is a course in applied logic, which presumes that students have studied the systems of sentential and predicate logic. It familiarizes students with the use of logic in particular areas of the philosophy of language, analyzes the notion of time using modal logic, and presents a discussion of the nature of truth using intuitionistic logic. Topics that may also be worked into the syllabus include intentional logic and dynamic logic.

PREREQUISITE: AP/PHIL 2100 3.00 with a grade of C+ or higher.

AP/PHIL4500 3.0A TOPICS IN FEMINIST PHILOSOPHY

An intensive study of recent feminist writings in one or more of the following areas: aesthetics, epistemology, ethics, political philosophy, philosophy of science, philosophy of the social sciences, theories of subjectivity, philosophy of language, theories of rationality.

PREREQUISITE: At least nine credits in philosophy.

AP/PHIL4800 3.0M CORE THEORETICAL PHILOSOPHY I

The course offers an advanced survey of some central themes in contemporary theoretical philosophy. It is designed to ensure that students have sufficient background to pursue graduatelevel research in these areas. Topics will be drawn from recent work in epistemology, metaphysics, philosophy of mind, philosophy of language and philosophy of science. The focus throughout will be on the interrelations among these.

PREREQUISITE: At least 30 credits in philosophy and permission of the course director. Please note: This course has EXTREMELY limited enrolment. You will only be able to enrol in this course after discussion with the professor. Normally students have a GPA of 8.0 to enter this course.

AP/PHIL4802 3.0A CORE PRACTICAL PHILOSOPHY I

This course offers an advanced survey of some central themes in contemporary practical philosophy. It is designed to ensure that students have sufficient background to pursue graduate level research in these areas.

PREREQUISITE: At least 30 credits in philosophy and permission of the course director.

Please note: This course has EXTREMELY limited enrolment. You will only be able to enrol in this course after discussion with the professor. Normally students have a GPA of 8.0 to enter this course.

AP/PHIL4900 6.0A HONOURS SEMINAR

This seminar focuses on some of the basic philosophical problems of medicine and the health sciences, and along the way engages some basic issues in metaphysics, epistemology and ethics. Some of the questions to be addressed include: What is medicine? What is health? What is normalcy? Is medicine a science?

Some of the philosophers to be discussed include Foucault, Hacking, Canguilhem, Jaspers, Glymour, Gadamer, Grunbaum, Klessssssssinman, Sartre, and Jonas. Some of the particular topics to be addressed include: the placebo effect, shamanism, cognitive biases in medical judgment, persuasion and healing, the phenomenology of pain, the logic of clinical trials, narrative and medicine, diagnostic classification systems, medical skepticism, the concept of medical evidence, and pseudoscience and medicine.

PREREQUISITE: Honours students in philosophy who have completed at least 18 credits in philosophy. This course is for 4th year philosophy honours majors only.

PRIOR TO FALL 2009: Course credit exclusion: AS/PHIL 4900 6.00.

AP/COGS4901 6.0A COGNITIVE SCIENCE HONOURS SEMINAR

This course will emphasize the inter-disciplinary nature of cognitive science and the bearing of recent research in cognitive science on real-world issues and problems. By the end of the course, students will have completed an original research project in cognitive science that builds on their previous coursework and training in the various disciplines that constitute the field of cognitive science.

By focusing on specific themes and current debates, an attempt will be made throughout the course to make connections between the various disciplines that constitute the interdisciplinary field of cognitive science. Some of the themes and debates covered will include: the relationship between thought and language, the modularity and domainspecificity of cognition, concepts and conceptual change, psychological essentialism, neural networks and the compositionality of thought, evolutionary psychology and human nature, innateness and learning, and rationality, among others.

PREREQUISITE: Students must be cognitive science majors with at least 84 credits in their major. PRIOR to FALL 2010: AP/COGS 4901 6.00 was AP/COGS 4900 6.00.